Short Interest in Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) Rises By 30.8%

Fidus Investment Co. (NASDAQ:FDUS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 250,100 shares, a growth of 30.8% from the August 15th total of 191,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 186,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidus Investment

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its stake in Fidus Investment by 250.8% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 92,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 65,924 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Fidus Investment by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 197,965 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,908,000 after buying an additional 58,768 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fidus Investment by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 600,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,861,000 after buying an additional 82,049 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Fidus Investment by 191.7% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 76,795 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 50,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fidus Investment by 611.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 71,651 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 61,580 shares during the last quarter. 28.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Fidus Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Fidus Investment Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of FDUS stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $20.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 284,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,332. Fidus Investment has a fifty-two week low of $17.63 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The company has a market capitalization of $637.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.71.

Fidus Investment (NASDAQ:FDUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Fidus Investment had a net margin of 67.43% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $35.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fidus Investment will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidus Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.29%. This is a boost from Fidus Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 19th. Fidus Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.11%.

About Fidus Investment

Fidus Investment Corporation is a business development company. It specializing in leveraged buyouts, refinancings, change of ownership transactions, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, mezzanine, growth capital, business expansion, lower middle market investments, debt investments, subordinated and second lien loans, senior secured and unitranche debt, preferred equity, warrants, subordinated debt, senior subordinated notes, junior secured loans, and unitranche loans.